Security issues again topped the agenda at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Mathews County School Board in the Brooks Auditorium at Thomas Hunter Middle School, with the superintendent giving a presentation on a possible upgrade to the division’s access control system, as well as the board allocating roughly $90,000 to help fund two new School Resource Officer positions within the Mathews County Sheriff’s Office.
The school board also heard from several people about the Oct. 30 lockdown of Mathews County Public Schools and how that incident was handled.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. David S. Daniel gave a brief talk about the Verkada Technology access control system, which provides such things as locking and scheduling of doors, camera access, and cloud control. Currently, 45 Virginia school divisions utilize Verkada, and more than 100 Virginia public sector entities use the service, including the Mathews County Sheriff’s Office. With Verkada cameras being used at the sheriff’s office, access control is easy to learn, and the Verkada team will be able to provide training support, according to the presentation.
The division’s current access control dates to 2006 and has experienced some problems as of late, Daniel said.
The Verkada system will be taken up by the county at tonight’s board of supervisors’ meeting, as will the SRO issue. The $89,047 allocated by the school board for the SRO positions represents the division’s share, as part of supporting funds for a grant from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services.
“This is what was asked of us in order to make this happen,” said Daniel, referring to the roughly $90,000 in matching funds for the grant. He said he has been working in collaboration with the county on this. “This is the number they provided to us,” he said.
The school division is also in the process of dealing with vendors to provide grant-funded weapons detection systems for Mathews High School and THMS. Daniel said he expects the grant to be able to pay for four to five devices, adding he is working with principals on figuring out the staffing, looking at neighboring school divisions to see how they handle it. Both school board chair Dr. Mari Gibbs and member Calvin Morgan addressed concerns that the four to five devices aren’t enough and one or two additional units will be needed to cover all entrance points, including the elementary school.
Lockdown
Concerning the lockdown, several people addressed the Oct. 30 event, with the Ware family expressing their concern. Sarah Ware said she was picking up her son, who was outside the school when she arrived. He walked out to her car and, as they were about to exit the lot, she saw three policemen pull their guns on a suspect. “I was completely shocked,” she said. It “scared the ever loving daylight out of me.” Her husband Charles said that, while the school was on lockdown, students were still allowed to leave and went unprotected. “What happened on Oct. 30 is totally unacceptable,” he said. “Stop being reactive” in developing security policies, he said. “Protect our kids.”
Jeanette Meade also addressed the board about the issue, saying that her husband had gone to pick up their granddaughter after school that day. The child was also outside after the lockdown went in place and her husband had not been notified about the Oct. 30 lockdown. “We’re got to do better,” she said.
The lockdown involved an adult suspected of going to the school with a gun; however, he did not have a weapon on him when he was taken into custody.
Volleyball coach Pat Moughon said she was also at MHS that afternoon, beginning practice with her team. Assistant principal Ken Noonan came to the gym and, “in a very firm, but confident voice,” informed the group of the lockdown. “The girls could not have handled themselves any better,” Moughon said, seeking shelter while the incident was happening. Noonan soon returned and gave the all clear.
Noonan, she said, handled the incident well, and she and the girls felt safe. “I thought he did a great job,” Moughon said.
Athletic trainer
Moughon and several others had attended Tuesday’s meeting to urge the board to bring back a certified athletic trainer to MHS. Moughon detailed several incidents of her players who needed the care of a certified trainer, involving two concussions and a twisted ankle. In one concussion case, the parent had to take the student across the river to get the physical training she needed, instead of a trainer being available on site. In the other concussion case, the student did not report the incident at first. “The trainer could have advocated for them,” said volleyball coach Sarah Brown.
Athletic director Amy O’Neil also spoke about the need for a certified trainer. In the past, Mathews High School had one contracted through Pivot, but when that person left, they couldn’t find someone who was willing to work both at MHS and at the clinic. She requested that’s the division hire someone independently.
“I think it would bring peace of mind” to everyone, O’Neil said.